In a globalized world, sociopolitical and cultural movements enter new spaces as borders are obscured and alternate routes are explored. Weaving in and out of local, regional, and global cultures through sound, lyrics, and performance, musical subcultures such as hip-hop and punk rock can serve as alternative spaces where the marginalized can challenge dominant societal norms through lifestyles, belief structures, and artistic expression that cross or exist without borders. This thesis explored how these subcultures are re-appropriated in distinct contemporary U.S. Latino/a and Latin American contexts through analyses of the revolutionary feminist Cuban hip-hop group, Las Krudas, the work of the Uruguayan-American activist Martin Sorrondeguy in his hardcore punk and queercore groups, Los Crudos and Limp Wrist, and a graphic novel entitled, Spit and Passion, by the Cuban-American artist, Cristy C. Road. From a performance studies perspective, this thesis utilized the theories of Judith Butler as well as Mikhail Bahktins concept of the carnival to study how these artists actively participate and create what was denominated the "cultura Kruda" within the transnational Latin American context. The cultura Kruda was argued to be an "imagined" activist "community" which promotes a sense of shared solidarity that transcends local and national borders. Through their abrasive messages and boundary pushing performances, these queer Latino artists challenge and reject not only the dominant discourses of race, gender, and sexuality of their respective societies, but also those of the traditionally male-dominated heteronormative subcultures themselves, ignoring borders and building bridges.